Five Brooklyn Coffee Bean Shops

If you are an avid coffee drinker, then you should go to a coffee shop. These shops offer a broad range of whole beans from all across the globe. These stores also offer unique trinkets, kitchenware, and other products.

Some of these shops offer subscriptions to their coffee beans. Others offer them in bulk at their retail locations.

Porto Rico Importing Co.

Veteran coffee shop that specializes in international brews and a variety of loose teas

The scent of freshly roasting beans fills the air when you enter this West Village shop. Open sacks of dark-brown beans are displayed on the shelves alongside jars of sugar coffee-making equipment, tea and other accessories.

Porto Rico, originally opened in 1907 by Italian immigrant Patsy Albonese. Greenwich Village at the time was experiencing an influx Italian immigrants, who set up businesses in order to meet their culinary needs. Albanese named her shop after the renowned Puerto Rican coffee she imported (and sold) - - a drink that was that was so well-known at the time that even the Pope took a sip.

Porto Rico offers 130 different varieties of beans, including those from around the world located in three locations including Bleecker Street, Essex Market and online. The company also roasts their own beans and offers wholesale distribution to 350 restaurants in NYC, Brooklyn and Brooklyn.

Peter Longo, the current owner and president of the company was raised over the bakery of his family on Bleecker Street where his father was the owner of Porto Rico. He continues to operate the business in the same manner as his father and grandfather.

Sey Coffee

It is located along Grattan Street in Morgantown, Brooklyn's Bushwick neighborhood, Sey Coffee is both a coffee shop and roaster. Tobin Polk, Lance Schnorenberg and their co-founders of 33 years, began roasting coffee in an apartment on the fourth floor, just across the street, in the year 2011. The name was Lofted Coffee. Local clients included Greenpoint's Budin and Soho cart services Peddler and Peddler.

Sey's preference for buying micro-lots, or even whole harvests, from single farmers has earned it the respect of New York City coffee enthusiasts. In the past they made a six-bag micro-lot purchase of Danilo Dones Sitio Catucai 785 from Brazil's Espirito Santo region. The beans were picked when they were ripe and then steamed to eliminate any imperfections. They were then dried on the farm after a 36-hour dry fermentation. The result is a coffee that has hints of melons and berries.

Sey's dedication to holistically improving the health of staff, growers and customers extends beyond the store. It makes use of biodegradable disposables and composts, preventing waste from landfills and converting it to agents that reduce harmful greenhouse gases as well as nourish soil. It also does away with gratuity, which puts the baristas in a position to provide their livelihoods and encourage them to concentrate on their art.

La Cabra

La Cabra is a modern specialty coffee company founded in Aarhus, Denmark in 2012. They began with a small shop and a dedicated staff. Their honesty and ingenuity to providing a unique coffee experience earned them a following not only in their hometown, but globally.

La Carba has a rigorous procedure for locating their ideal beans, going through hundreds of different lots a year to find the ones that meet their standards. They roast them lightly, dialing in their desired flavor profile. This gives the coffees more vibrant taste and clarity.

The East Village store, which opened in October last year was praised for its excellent pour overs as well as its baked goods, overseen by Jared Sexton. He previously worked at Bien Cuit, Dominique Ansel and various coffee establishments.

The shop uses the La Marzocco modbar, and the plates and cups are designed specifically for Wurtz ceramics in Horsens, an artist-run by a father and son. In a recent interview with Atlanta Coffee Shops General Manager Ian Walla revealed that La Cabra serves 250 different coffees per day and has typically seven or eight varieties on offer at any time.

The Roasting Plant Coffee

the coffee bean shop (worldaid.eu.org) Roasting Plant is the only multi-unit coffee retailer that roasts on site and brews according to your preferences, with every cup of coffee being roasted and brewed according to your preferences in less than an hour. It searches the globe for the highest-quality specialty beans that are directly sourced, giving customers the choice and quality.

Their on-site roaster is a fluid bed device, that is distinct from the traditional drum machines commonly found in UK coffee shops. The beans are blown around a heated container by high-speed air that keeps the green beans in suspension and allows them to be roasted at a consistent rate throughout the machine.

I tried the Sumatran Coffee and it was smooth and rich with a velvety taste. Dark chocolate was evident in the aroma and as you sip the coffee, you could detect subtle citrus fruit flavors.

The coffee that has been roasted will be whisked into the store's Eversys Super-Automatic brewing Machines to be brewed according your specifications in less than one minute. Customers can pick from nine single origin selections and a wide range of blends.

Parlor Coffee

Parlor Coffee was founded in 2012 behind a barbershop, with a single group espresso machine. It has since grown into a burgeoning coffee roastery, with beans that can be found in a variety of great cafes and restaurants as well as home brewers all over the city. Parlor is dedicated to sourcing the highest-quality beans across the globe Each one is a long, arduous journey before reaching the roasters.

The owners, who self-described as "passionate about their craft and believe that great coffee should be accessible to all," have created a space that is down-to earth with chalkboards, compost bins, up-cycled hand-made products, and minimal decor.

They roast their own blends (there were six when I was there) and single-origins. However, they also hold cuppings on Sundays, which are open to the public. Imagine it as a brewery tasting area--you can smell and taste the ground beans. They vary from earthy to chocolaty (one was similar to tomato!). It's a little off the beaten path but worth the journey.